Sofie Mini Album

Made this mini for a very special little girl.

Tutorial - Simple Mini Albums

I’ve been asked to do tutorial on these mini albums. This is my first tutorial, so I hope I get it right. For these albums I used 3 ½ x 6 ¾ bags. You can buy the Celebrate It brand at Michaels and the Nicole brand at AC Moore. I prefer the Nicole brand because they are not at thick.

Materials: 1. 12 x 12 Chipboard (for cover) 2. Paper: The Spring Fling Stack (DCWV) 3. Butterflies – Martha Steward punch 4. Flowers – Cuttlebug Die Cut 5. Buttons 6. Crochet Thread (for the buttons) 7. Colored card stock 8. 3 1/2 x 6 3/4 paper bags

Instructions for Top Tag Insert

Step 1: Fold the bottom over on each side of the bag (total of 6 bags).

Step 2: Cut the top of the bag to the height you want. The bags in the picture are 5”.

Step 3: To bind the bags together I used Laura’s Stack the Deck technique. Laura makes amazing albums – her blog is http://followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/ - Using craft paper cut one each of the following sizes:    

 5” x 1 ¾”
 5” x 2 ¼
 5” x 2 ¾

Score each end at ¾”, fold at score lines. - Glue the pieces together in the center to create binding.

Step 4: Glue the sides of the paper bags to the binding

Step 5: Cover your pages with paper. Then all you have to do is make your cover and glue or tape your pages to the inside. 

Instructions for Side Tag Insert

Instructions are the same as the Top Tag except I used larger bags, (4 ¾” wide) and folded the bottom sections down to glue to the binding.  Then cut the bags to measure 4 ¾” x 3 ½”. The pockets on the pages are made using cardstock.

The folded bottom will be used to glue to the binding.

Other: I usually put a thin layer of mattte finish Mod Podge on my covers for protection. I also do the same for delicate paper embellishments (like the butterflies) so they won't tear easily. The flowers on the smaller mini cover are made from burlap which come apart easy and they are "flat". I brushed them with Mod Podge and and when it was tacky, I formed the petals to give them dimension and to keep them from coming apart.

Other Projects

These are some other projects I've been working on.

Butterfly Cover Mini

Baby Girl Mini Album

I made this album for a friend. I used K&Company 12x12 McKenna Paper.

Fairy Birdcage Mini

This album is 10 x 5. I used K&Company Brenda Walton Designer Paper. The idea for the album came from all the beautiful birdcage albums and the adorable captured fairy bottles I've seen on YouTube. The birdcage is from a scal file I downloaded and altered. The Fairies I cut out are from post cards I found at a used book Store. They are from the Flower Fairy Collection by Cicely Mary Barker.

Mini Album for my Sister

My sister has a beautiful home, but her yard is a little paradise. She has flowers, an amazing waterfall pond and a vegetable garden. She loves gardening and working in her yard. She even keeps the seed packets and tags that come with plants so I thought I would make her a mini to put her pictures in and pockets for her seed packets and tags. It's 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 and I used K&Company Watercolor paper.

Halloween Mini Album

This album was made by request from a very special 7 year old boy who selected the paper and had some great ideas. He wanted a black cat, big pumpkin, haunted house and lots of bats.

Here are the sites for the svg files I used.

House and Round Frame w/Bat - www.quillingpatch.com
Witch Boot- Designingwithdiecuts.com
Black Cat - www.littlebit.com
Gate - svgcuts.com/blog/page/18/?s
Mask - theladywolf.blogspot.com

For Hayleigh - Once Upon a Time Mini Album

I made this mini for my adorable niece (she lives in another state - boohoo). She's not familiar with minis so I added some pictures to get her started. This album is 7"x5" and I used the DCWV Once Upon a Time paper.

www.crazyaboutcrafting.blogspot.com

My Reminder Book

I'm calling this my reminder book...my version of the smash book. I was watching one of Kathryn's (Scrap Beach - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-on-the-scrap-beach) ustream shows (love, love, love her shows) and decided to make one. I'm surprised how much I actually use it. I even have a "wish" section. It has things I've cut out of magazines that I'd like to have. :)

Shabby Chic Mini Album

My first attempt at "Shabby Chic". This is a real mini - it's 4 1/2" x 3 1/4". I made it with leftover paper I from my "smash book".

Garden of Love Mini Album

This is an 8x8 album using K & Company Spring Blossom collection. Beautiful paper which made this album fun to work with. Thumbnail photos below (just click on the photo).

Garden of Love